The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (190721).Volume V. The Drama to 1642, Part One.

XIII. Lesser Elizabethan Dramatists.

§ 9. Hathwaye; Robert Wilson; Wentworth Smith.

We reach now the lesser dramatists whose work was too insignificant to survive. Five of Henslowes writers have one play each credited to their sole authorship with a considerable amount of work done in partnership. But, of this work, almost nothing is extant. Richard Hathwaye appears in Henslowes diary from 1597 to 1603. The first play by him noted in the diary is King Arthur, the only play in which he has no collaborator. It can hardly have been his first work. Perhaps he was growing out of fashion; he is mentioned by Meres as a veteran. Of the seventeen plays in which he collaborated, only the first part of Sir John Oldcastle has survived. This play contains, also, the only extant work of Robert Wilson, who collaborated in sixteen plays, and has one ascribed to his sole authorship. W. W. Greg suggests that he is mentioned by Meres because his main activity was in 1598 and, therefore, his name was specially before the public when Meres wrote. Wentworth Smith is the third writer with one play to his name. He collaborated in fourteen others, of which not one has survived. But, apparently, he began dramatic work in 1601, and may, very possibly, be the Wentworth Smith whose play The Hector of Germaine was acted about 1613 and printed in 1615.